As y’all know, I’m a Library Science student at University of North Texas. This semester I have the pleasure of taking an AWESOME class called Literature for Youth! One of the things we have to do is read some books from a list my Prof has provided us and then make up a blog and post reviews over what we’ve read. CLEARLY this is right up my alley! So, instead of making a completely different blog, every Saturday I’m going to start posting this new feature!
MODULE 7:
Realistic Fiction for Elementary, Middle School, and Young Adult
Hardcover, 320 pages
Released: February 14, 2012
Published by: Knopf
Source: Library
Book Summary: A kid named August was born with a facial deformity. For the first time ever he’s going to be going to a real school now with other real people. The problem is, he’s not so sure everyone he meets will be so eager to accept him and his appearance.
Reference: Palacio, R.(2012). wonder. New York: Knopf.
*MY IMPRESSIONS*
Wonder is a great example of realistic fiction. It portrays a child with a deformity and a correct impression on how they might judge him. At times it was hard to read, but it was something that needed to be read.
I chose to read this book because it was something that I could personally relate to. My little sister has a sickness where she is instead mentally delayed, but what she went through is almost the same. She received so many people that were nice to her because of it, but she never told me about anyone who was mean. After reading this, I can see that there was so much more she didn’t tell me. After putting myself and my sister in this situation, it made me think of what makes a book good realistic fiction.
To me, good realistic fiction consists of a problem and what needs to happen to fix it. My favorite are those that don’t end with things working out completely because it doesn’t always happen that way in real life. I also thought this was a good representation of realistic fiction because there is so much of real life mirrored in this book that at times I cried from being immersed in ti and thinking people were really treating this boy in this way. It really hurt me as if I was a good friend of August myself.
This novel is considered a school and family realistic fiction novel, where the main character is someone new to a “school environment” and then afterwards he or she finds himself. I would consider Wonder to be this type of book, but at the same time, I wasn’t really sure because there are so many different POV’s. But in the end, the main focus is still August and he was still the one who had to work through the problem of being new to a school environment.
Plainly put, Wonder is “wonderful.” I can see myself rereading this for fun later on in life to enjoy it without having to scope out certain literary themes. August has snatched the hearts of mostly evryone who has read this and will not give it back.
Professionals are saying…
KIRKUS REVIEW
After being home-schooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)
Retrieved from: Kirkus(2011, December 3).WONDER [Wonder, by Palacio, R.J.]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/r-j-palacio/wonder-palacio/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkeiwBRCzmo-wiKL49pEBEiQAhvGKYTj6QciCLc52ftWNog9X4VHnqqaRdI9QWDGDZOQy_ZgaAkUp8P8HAQ
Library Uses:
I would do this as a book talk. This is one of those books where the it would be cool to do the assignment featured in the book, but as a discussion instead. It would be nice to discuss diversity and then how they once had to “Choose Kind” instead of what society had told them to choose.
Book Image from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11387515-wonder